


Frenemies with Benefits

by i_think_ur_sweet



Category: The Elementalists (Visual Novel)
Genre: Brief Heartbreak, Crying, F/M, Siblings fighting, Some Fluff, Some angst, and some sweet nsfw, assumptions being made, but don't let that fool you!, fighting in general, friendships, i promise you there is a lot of tooth rotting fluff, some nsfw, you get it all with this one my friends!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:47:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_think_ur_sweet/pseuds/i_think_ur_sweet
Summary: Eliana and Beckett shared a romantic night a few weeks ago and have avoided each other like the plague since then. When academic struggles bring them back together, true feelings are revealed. But there are still bumps in the road as opinions are shared and assumptions are made.
Relationships: Beckett Harringtion/Main Character (The Elementalists)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Frenemies with Benefits

She bit her lip as she surveyed the crime scene: dozens of flashcards littered the desk, a rainbow of sticky notes plastered to the walls, all of the pens, pencils, highlighters, and markers from her vast collection scattered across every available surface. 

Yep. She was going to fail this exam. 

Tears of frustration threatened to spill and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing everything to disappear. Despite all the studying she had done, none of the information seemed to be sticking. The only thought in her brain was a big “therionology sucks,” followed by many, many exclamation points.

Professor Kontos had introduced her to the concept of the rare magic, insisting that someone with her potential and genius couldn’t fail the advanced course. Man oh man was he wrong. Commanding animals was the near hardest thing she had ever done, and that was up there with having to deal with all the shadow monsters and creepy mage situation. 

The only solution Eliana could think of that wasn’t dropping out and moving to a remote cottage in the middle of the woods somewhere was to call her frenemy. Beckett Harrington. She was reluctant to resign herself to this solution. The aforementioned frenemy was a sore topic for her. They got along fine when they weren’t in an academic setting, sometimes too well seeing as they had slept together a few weeks ago and now have been avoiding each other like the plague. 

Atlas was the only one who knew about it and hadn’t been afraid to voice her opinions on the situation. Eliana didn’t even want to think about that conversation. She was sensitive despite her boldness and the harsh feedback on her sleep deprived decision was the cause of her silence on it since. 

But what else was she supposed to do? Beckett was, of course, at the top of her therionology class. Eliana was a smart enough person to know when to ask for help and now was one of those moments. Calling him would be so awkward though… she would much rather deal with the awkwardness head on.

So with the split second decision made to bring Beckett a coffee and to beg for help in person, Eliana hastily shoved all of her pens, pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, text books,etc., etc., into a tote bag. She also took a second to change out of her sweats and swipe on some lip gloss for no other reason than to not feel disgusting anymore and not because she wanted to impress him. 

Once she was out of the danger zone, she was immediately confronted by her friends, who had gathered in the common room to play board games. She was offended for a half second about not being invited before she remembered that she warned them all of the studying she had to get done. 

“Hey Ellie, how’s the study sesh going?” Zeph asked, glancing up from the game to flash her a broad smile. 

Eliana managed a tight lipped smile in reply. It felt like a worm was wiggling around in her belly at the thought of not telling everyone she was going to see Beckett. It wasn’t like she was lying… but it sort of felt like it for some reason, especially because she hadn’t told them about the fact she had slept with him. She had never been the kind of person to keep secrets.

Shreya, who was much much more competitive than Zeph, didn’t look up from the seemingly heated game, but she still seemed to sense there was something going on. “Are you going to find a change of scenery?”

“Yeah I am.” Eliana kicked at the edge of the rug in what she hoped read in a nonchalant manner.

Atlas met Eliana’s eyes, her own narrowed in suspicion. Welp. There was no way she was going to hide this possibly horrible decision anymore. Her twin sister could see through her like she was made of glass.

“You wouldn’t put lip gloss on to go to the library, so where are you going?”

Eliana pressed her lips together and tucked a lock of turquoise hair behind her ear. Leave it to Atlas to be annoyingly perceptive.

“Penn Square,” she said, doing everything in her power to not pick at a loose thread on the coach. The action would surely be a tell to her anxiety. “They make a mean mocha frappe at The Midnight Bean.”

Atlas continued to stare for what felt like hours but was most likely a few seconds before grunting a reply and turning her razor sharp focus back to the game. 

Eliana let out a little sigh of relief as she turned to open the door to Penn Square. Griffin called out a “have a good time,” as she stepped into the portal, leading the worm in her gut to twist in reply. She had just gotten away with basically lying to her best friends. If she didn’t pass this exam she would most certainly feel like the worst friend in the history of bad friends. 

As she made the short walk to The Midnight Bean she let her mind dig the hole of guilt even deeper. The only reason she was avoiding telling the whole truth of things was because she didn’t want them to judge her for going to Beckett for help, especially Atlas. Her sister had been so harsh about her weird relationship with him. Harsh enough for this little flower of guilt to blossom in her stomach and continue to grow. 

She readjusted the straps of her bag and blew an errant strand of hair out of her face in frustration. Why was she letting other people have such a strong hold on her emotions? Of course her sister’s opinion mattered, but her own thoughts and feelings should also be taken into consideration. If she wanted to go get help from the smart guy she argued with on a regular basis and also slept with then who was going to stop her? No one! She was going to let absolutely no one stop her from buying him a coffee and going to his dorm room.

Eliana pushed all negative thoughts aside as The Midnight Bean came into view. A picturesque cafe painted deep shades of swirling blues with bright yellow stars that flitted lazily around it, the golden yellow door tying together the whole starry night motif. Eliana couldn’t help but smile at the extravagance of it all. If only Starbucks could see this. 

After letting herself overthink for a few minutes as she stared at the vast selection, she was on her way to Beckett with many drinks for him to choose from. She didn’t want to assume he liked plain black coffee (even though that would seemingly be very on brand for him,) compared to all of the magical blends to choose from, so the slight dent to her savings was hopefully worth it.

She had trouble figuring out which door to go back through. She obviously couldn’t use her own as that would foil her plans, so she decided on the door that opened to the main campus. She would find her way to Beckett’s dorm from there. The fact that he had boasted about his single gave her slight peace of mind. There was only one building that had single housing at Penderghast so finding him wouldn’t be too hard. 

A flash of memories suddenly overcame her as she stepped onto the campus. Beckett’s lips against her own, hesitant at first and then extremely eager. His long thin fingers caressing every bit of bare skin revealed. The shivers that wracked her body at his cold metallic touch. The way his eyebrows knit together, the hushed frantic praises that left his swollen lips as he fell over the edge.

The rush of heat brought Eliana back into the present moment, a deep blush spreading across her cheeks at her thoughts. She dug her nails into the palm of her free hand in hopes of bringing her out of whatever had just happened. There was no way in hell she could let her mind run free like that when she was actually at his dorm. Not only would that make the studying that would hopefully take place near impossible, Beckett was like Atlas in the fact that he could read her like the books he always seemed to have on hand.

Forcing herself to keep walking, she chewed at the inside of her cheek as she made her way to the singles dorm. The embarrassment of her private thoughts possibly being discovered by Beckett opened the door of anxiety in her, and it came rushing in at a crushing pace. What if he sent her away, cups of coffee in hand, laughing mercilessly at her retreating form? What if he simply opened the door and looked at her in disgust, leaving her standing there as he slammed the door in her face? What if he wasn’t home at all? What if he was!? What if he didn’t even like coffee!? 

“Eliana?”

Her head snapped up from the pathway and she found herself facing the object of all her anxieties. There stood Beckett Harrington himself, a duffel bag swung over one shoulder, his frustratingly perfect face flushed, his hair damp and clinging to his forehead. God. Had he been working out? She quickly bit her lip to quell the waterfall of emotions that came at the thought.

His eyebrows quirked up and he took a step closer to her. “Are you alright? You seem a little stressed.”

“No. I’m not alright.” The words left her lips before she could dwell on them. She felt an instant pang of regret. Why did she have to wear all her emotions on her sleeves? 

Beckett raised a hand, maybe to touch her arm in concern, but lowered it after a moment. He decided to shove his hands in his pockets instead, confirming the expected awkwardness.

“May…” he trailed off, briefly glancing away and taking a deep breath before continuing. “May I be of assistance in any way?”

Eliana now knew why they had been avoiding each other after the incident. The two just couldn’t pretend like nothing happened. Beckett was an uncomfortable mess around her and she just couldn’t control her thoughts. Even now she was battling against her mind at his suggestive question. 

She lowered her gaze and nodded, tucking a strand of short hair behind her ear as she willed her heated cheeks to cool down.

“I was actually coming to find you,” she finally managed after a moment. “I need your help with something.”

Now it seemed it was Beckett’s turn to blush at the suggestion behind her own words. She cursed herself for not being more upfront when it actually mattered. 

“The therionology exam coming up.” She said, her voice sounding too loud in her ears. She cleared her throat before continuing. “I know you’re at the top of the class ranking and I’m literally going to fail this exam. I don’t understand any of the spells. It would absolutely crush me if I got a bad grade and I- I just didn’t know what else to do…” She trailed off as the fact that she was rambling dawned on her.

She looked up to meet Beckett’s slightly amused expression, the corners of his lips twitching. Anger flared up in her at the sight. Was this entertaining to him? She knew they had a rivalry of sorts, but finding joy in others pain was just plain rude!

He seemed to sense her anger and he quickly raised his hands in surrender. “Of course I’ll help you Eliana! I completely understand your fear of failure. I find myself experiencing the same emotion quite often.”

Her eyes widened at his open admittance of having doubts in his own abilities. The ever cocky and boastful Beckett Harrington admitting a weakness? But she wasn’t willing to take that as an apology to his rudeness. 

She huffed out an irritated puff of air and stuck out her chin. “What did you find so funny then? Nothing about this situation feels funny to me.”

His smile returned as he gestured to the cup carrier in her hand. “It’s just that you mentioned you were on your way to find me. That seems like a lot of drinks for one person.”

Eliana felt her cheeks reddening at his annoyingly smart observation. The silliness of buying four drinks hit her right as he pointed it out.

She dropped her gaze yet again, staring down at her bright yellow converse as she mumbled out a reply. “I- I didn’t know what you liked and I wanted to get you something for your time and so I picked up a few things. It feels slightly ridiculous now that I think about it.”

Beckett chuckled softly at that, reaching out to grab one of the drinks from the carrier. The action, although simple, felt like an olive branch being extended. One that crossed the chasm of their awkwardness and inability to have an adult conversation about what had happened. She could almost feel the tension around them slipping away as he flashed her a crooked grin.

Eliana let out a sigh of relief as she watched him take a sip of what looked like the double shot espresso with infused rosemary and mandrake. She couldn’t help but smile widely at him as he theatrically rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. The action seemed a little stilted, like he wasn’t used to acting in such a way.

“Thank you Beckett.” She could feel the corners of her eyes crinkle as her smile widened. There was no way she could regret coming to ask him for help. Not when he was acting so darn cute.

He cocked his head in confusion, one eyebrow raised. “I should be thanking you, Eliana. This coffee is delicious. Exactly what I didn’t know I needed.”

She shook her head and laughed. She really did love when they were friendly to each other like this. It made her wish they both weren’t so academically competitive all the time. Great minds might think alike, but great minds also butt heads when they don’t. When they weren’t in a classroom, Eliana noticed the little things that she didn’t when he was being infuriating, like the soft constellation of freckles that dotted his cheeks or how truly geeky he could be when faced with friendly social interaction. 

Beckett blushed under her scrutiny and Eliana quickly looked away, pressing her lips together to try and make her smile not so scarily and overly happy. 

“Would you like to study in the library?” He asked, tone returned to the oddly formal Beckett she was used to. “Although I’ve found it to be a little loud during this time of the year. It seems almost everyone is studying for their final exams.”

Eliana nodded in agreement, turning the force of her blindingly bright smile back to him. The patented boldness seemed to be back as she bit her bottom lip and shook her head in what could probably be taken as a flirtatious manner.

“I was thinking your place would probably be the best place to go.” Beckett’s composure faltered at the proposition. She wouldn’t let his reaction throw her off though. She had just found her confidence again and she wasn’t going to let it slip away.

“Would that be alright with you?”

Beckett swallowed quite obviously, his hand flying up to grip the strap of his duffel bag. A small part of Eliana’s brain was full on freaking out at his reaction. Maybe he had been thinking about that night just as much as she had. 

He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat. “Of course, wherever you’re the most comfortable suits me perfectly.”

After another moment of uncontrolled staring, Beckett turned to lead the way. The sudden urge to loop her arm through his came to her, but she managed to push it aside, shoving her hand into the pocket of her dress instead.

“So what do you think we should do with all this coffee?” she asked, effectively breaking the silence as Beckett laughed in response. 

Another sudden urge came to her as she smiled up at him. The urge to do a lot less studying than she had originally planned once they got to Beckett’s dorm room. This one she was finding considerably harder to push aside as they walked side by side down the lamp lit path.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know if you have any thoughts/ feelings/ concerns/ etc. :-)


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